Featured Employee of the Week
Jennifer W., Business Development Manager, HQ Valencia, CA.
Hi! I’m Jennifer.
I am the Business Development Manager for AMS, based out of Headquarters, CA, and I have been with AMS since September 2022.
As a part of the (small but mighty) Sales Team here at AMS, I can say that I am most proud of us successfully signing and bringing in 9 NEW clients to AMS in 2024!
Specifically in my career with AMS, Jay Coile is not only my daily partner-in-crime (just kidding, we don’t break the law!), but he is also an incredibly amazing mentor and source of knowledge. He knows SO MUCH about the intricacies of fulfillment, and especially about how we do things here at AMS. He does an awesome job in sales, and is extremely well-versed, confident, and personable with every one of the new clients we engage with. Not to mention, he’s super cool, and he has ALWAYS been exceptionally kind and helpful towards me. He has taught me so much already and he continues to be my rock and my source of ongoing growth here at AMS. I feel very honored to be working with him here on the Sales Team.
As we approach Q4, bringing in any new sales/new clients will likely slow down. Therefore, my biggest goal and focus is now on building up a solid pipeline and seeking out new potential clients to land in 2025. I am working with my team, our marketing agency, and our 3rd party outbound agency on strategies for identifying and connecting with suitable brands that would make for successful long-term partnerships with AMS.
My most challenging project or assignment I have ever worked on, I guess would have been last year, after my former boss left AMS, I was tasked with gathering data and stats for the upcoming Board Meeting. ‘Data gathering’ is definitely not my strong suit, so it took me a very long time and was quite frustrating for me. However, it ended up being a very useful learning experience, and I am now better equipped to pull the necessary data when called upon to for board meeting preparations.
If I could go back to the start of my career and give myself one piece of advice would be this: Throughout your career journey, try to avoid working with (or staying with) any company or any person who does not value and respect you and your efforts. I made the mistake of keeping a corporate job once with a team that didn’t support or value its employees. It was very stressful, and I was miserable every day. I am happy to say that it led me to where I am now though. The environment here at AMS is quite the opposite of that! I feel fully supported by my team, who are always willing to help me out, encourage me and lift me up.
If I could switch jobs with anyone at the company for a day, I would choose to switch with anyone from our awesome Client Services Team. I have enormous respect for what they do and would love to get a sneak peek into their day-to-day world. Also…I believe that they all face numerous challenges and pressure on a daily basis, so since I’d only have to switch for ONE DAY, I would be very relieved to come back to my position in Sales the next day!
And if I had to pick only ONE Client Services Team member, it would be Kimberly Peszek, VP of Client Relations, whose professionalism and expertise I truly admire. Here’s why I would switch with Kim:
I would get to engage with ALL of our talented CS groups.
I would gain a little bit of insight into ALL of our existing AMS clients.
And maybe (hopefully)…I would get to travel out to AMS East to check out our East Coast operations and work with some of our East Coast team!
Now Let’s Have a Little Fun!
Not so much about my heritage, but a little family trivia. My aunt has spent many years tracing back our family tree. In most family trees, if you go back far enough, you might find that you are distantly related to a few ‘notables’, people that have done something notable in history. And although there is a distant biological connection (usually from sharing the same great grandparents many, many generations ago), they usually aren’t close family members. I found it interesting that on my paternal grandmother’s side, I am distantly related to the following notables:
Ralph ‘Waldo’ Emerson – American poet and essayist
Amelia Earhart – American aviation pioneer &
Matt Damon – American actor and film producer
One misconception I wish people better understood about a specific part of your identity… I guess I’ll speak to aging. As we all continue to age together, one day at a time…remember that gray hairs are really like “wisdom highlights”! It takes time and real-life experience to earn them and is no indication of getting old! I’m proud of the (very few!) gray hairs that I’ve earned over the years.
A mantra that I live by is “Always Be Kind – it’s so easy to practice and can make such a difference.”
A fact my coworkers be surprised to learn is that I was in a band once!
I’m passionate about continually trying to grow and be the best version of myself that I can be every day.
My favorite family recipe is Cherry Cheese Pie – it’s like cheesecake, but richer and creamier!
My favorite hobby outside of work is Roller skating!!
If I was on a deserted island the three items I would bring with me… assuming ‘people’ can be considered ‘items’, I’d bring my brother, my boyfriend and my daughter. They are my 3 favorite people, and I think between the four of us, we’d figure out how to survive!
Thank you, Jennifer, for growing with AMS!
